5 Year Plan

I’m happy to report that I’ve accomplished my short-term goal of leading a professional development session to introduce a more conscientious attempt to align our science assessments with NGSS. After listening carefully to both fellow teachers and administrators this past semester, I’ve definitely bitten off more than I can chew for my long-term goal. There is major confusion and a lively assortment of competing ideas within our school about how to properly address the push and pull of the College Board (AP) content standards and the more skills based NGSS benchmarks. Thus, I’m going to narrow my focus and delay any attempts to spread my ideas district wide until I have reached a healthier level of clarity on my own position.

To aid this process, I plan on developing a wider and more diverse network of professional contacts to deepen my understanding of the many perspectives on this issue. In addition to seeking out CPS staff and students, I’m hoping to reach out to the American Chemical Society to enlist their help in sending a poll out to college chemistry professors inquiring about their response to the growing NGSS-skills based movement that’s currently sweeping high school classrooms. Many teachers have expressed their fear that when what used to be required content is cut from introductory course curricula, our students will be sent to university without sufficient preparation. I see both sides in this argument and want to find out what university educators think now, as opposed to remembering back to what my own university experience was like twenty years ago.

Clearly, the road ahead is not a binary choice between NGSS and College Board standards, but when deciding what balance to strike between the two, I plan to proceed as all good scientists do – by analyzing the data. In addition to gathering as many opinions from my CPS community as possible and reaching out for help from the ACS for help with professors, I’m hopeful that professional researchers are studying this already, and plan to find out what they’ve learned so far. If universities are adapting to NGSS and no longer expecting students to come prepared with the same course requirements that have been considered the introduction to chemistry cannon for years, I am prepared to follow their lead and adapt my course outline appropriately. If, however, universities still value the full range of topics typically explored in a first-year chemistry course, I will work to keep offering those topics to my students.

​Web Resources

Click on the link below to see my web resources, curated in BlendSpace with website previews and descriptions:

Working with my MSU cohort and faculty has shown me first hand the benefits of reaching outside one's normal network to collaborate. Having met or just started interacting with the amazing folks listed below, I'm looking forward to expanding our work together in the future for the sake of my students' learning and my own.

David Hayes /student collaborator - Computer science teacher who can arrange another student collaborator for future programming work

Jenny Sarna - High School Science Specialist for CPS

Theresa Mah - State representative for IL 2nd District. After an initial constituent meeting with Ms. Mah, I was wholly impressed and look forward to working with her and learning from her about how we can advance the cause of public education in Illinois.

Financial Resources -

Even though creativity can overcome most equipment challenges, there's no denying the benefits of financial opportunities. The following resources/grants seem well worth exploring.

American Chemical Society Hach High School Grant (up to $1500) - https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/funding-and-awards/grants/hachhighschool.html